Improvement in bee-hives



H. 0. HUGHES.

Bee Hive.

No. 84,828. Patented Dec. 8, 1868.

N-IPEERS, PHOTQ-LXTHOGRAPH5E WASHINGTON. n C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIGE.-

7 i HENRY O. HUGHES, OF JIIDSON, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVES.

Speeiiication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 84,826, dated December B, 186B.

To all lwhom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. HUGHES, of Judson, in the county of Sullivan, and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bee-Hives; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this speciication, and in which- Figure l represents a perspective section of my bee-hive; Fig. 2, a vertical central section of the same; and Figs. 3 and 4, perspective views of the ventilating eut-offs attached to the inner sides of the hive broken away from the hive.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment, in the lower part of the hive, of inclined hinged and sliding doors, forming the bottom of the same, and in the employment of ventilating cut-offs, constructed so as to change the draft in the different parts of the hive, as will more fully hereinafter be seen.

The construction and operation of my invention7 by which others may be enabled to use it, will be described as follows:

In the accompanying drawings, Arepresents the casing of my hive, which is supplied with the door a at its upper end, and held in place by the buttons a' a. This casing is mounted upon a supporting-frame or trestle, B, and held thereon by strips b secured to said casing. The lower part of the sides of the casing Ais constructed with inclined surfaces, as seen in Fig. 2. Secured to the inner sides of the lower part of the hive is a slantin g board, d, to which is hinged a door, c, having the same inclination as the lower part of the casing A, and retained therein by pins or otherwise. Opposite the board d is secured a similar board, d', between which and' strips secured flush with the inclined surface of casing A, opposite door c, slides another door, c', which,

when closed, comes in contact at its lower end with door c, thus forming the bottom of the hive, which will admit of the oftal being easily and wholly removed. A short distance above these doors and board is secured a eone-like shapedp ieee or bottom, e, with an opening in its lower extremity or center.

f is an opening, provided with gauze, one of which is situated in the lower part of casing A, on each side of the chamber, between the doors c c and bottom e, with which it communicates and ventilates. The hive, above the bottom e, is provided with an inner wall, A', in the center of which, or thereabouts, is se cured the comb-frame C, which is constructed by fastening bars one across' the other, as seen in Fig. l.

Secured a short distance above the combframe O is a suitably-perforated partition or floor, g, upon which the lower correspondingly'- perforated set of honey-boxes, g1, is placed, which are supplied with removable' perforated lids, and upon which the upper tier of honeyboxes, g2, is placed. These boxes, or their lids and bottoms, are also provided with openings.

The upper end or top of the inner wall is provided with a wire-gauze Ventilating-opening, g3,- and a door, h, opposite the door a of easing A, is made in the side of said inner wall for removing the honey-boxes.

D is a ventilating cut-oft", situated in the lower part of the hive between the inner wall, A', and casing A, and sliding back and forth over a ventilatin g opening, ft, on strips i. This cut-oft' is provided with a groove, as seen in Fig. 3, for the purpose of allowing the air to enter the hive through the ventilating-open ing t' when that part of the cut-oit is brought in contact with said opening, and the air cut off when the opposite end of said cut-oftl is slid over the opening z', which is accomplished by means of a bent metal bar or handle, m, passingthroughthesideofthehiveandthrough a loop, 7c, in the cut-off, so that on turning the bent lever m the cut-off can be operated.

D is another Ventilating cut-off, placed in the upper part of the hive, and sliding back and forth over a Ventilating-opening, n, in the casing A, and held in place by strips a fastened to the inner wall, A. This cut-oft' is furnished with aVsimilarly-shaped handle, h', to the one on cut-off D, but is provided with two grooves, cut or slanting in opposite directions, as seen in Fig. 4. The object of so constructing the cut-oft1 D is to permit air to enter both the chamber of the inner hive or walls and the chamber sur.

rounding the saine.

To produce the above result, operate the cut-ofi' as follows: When it is desired to ventilate the chamber of the interior hive, slide that part of the cut-oftl grooved so as to allow air from the Ventilating-opening n to pass up.

into the upper part of the hive over the said opening, and the air will descend through the ventilating-openin g g3, already described, and through openings in the honey-boxes, and thence into the lower part of the hive. When it is desired to ventilate the chamber surrounding the inner hive, it is only necessary to reverse the operation of the cut-oft'.

What I claim, and desire to secure by -Letters Paten t, is-

1. The lower or bottom part of the hive, A, constructed as described, in combination with the hinged and sliding inclined doors c c and cone-like-shaped piece or bottom @opera-ted substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. The employment of the cuto's D D, constructed or grooved so as to change the draft, or cut it oft' from one part of the hive -to the other, arranged and operated substantially as described.

3. Frame B, outerand-inner casin gs or walls,

HENRY o. HUGHES'.

IVitnesses: d

JOHN F. THOMAS, CHARLES 'W. THOMAS. 

